


Maybe We Can Finally Stop Falling

by Scorpio_99



Series: Maybe We Can Finally Stop Falling (To the Dark Side) [1]
Category: Star Wars, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Anakin doesn’t fall, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Angst with a Happy Ending, Badass Padmé Amidala, Canon-Typical Violence, Don’t copy to another site, Fix-It, Human Disaster Anakin Skywalker, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, Multi, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Mess, Open Relationships, Order 66, Past Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Qui-Gon Jinn's A+ Parenting, Secret Relationship, That’s Not How the Force Works, Violence, no beta we die like men, who trusted them with children
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:55:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27376834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scorpio_99/pseuds/Scorpio_99
Summary: Mace Windu kills General Grevious. Obi-Wan Kenobi confronts the chancellor. Padmé Amidala is a badass who isn’t putting up with Anakin’s shit. Ahsoka Tano is probably the only one staying 100% in character. Anakin isn’t insane enough to believe that someone like Obi-wan would try to stage a coup. Also it kind of defeats the point of turning to the dark side to save your family if you have to kill one of them to do it.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker & Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa & Anakin Skywalker, Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Leia Organa, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker
Series: Maybe We Can Finally Stop Falling (To the Dark Side) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2026256
Comments: 8
Kudos: 113





	1. The Order

**Author's Note:**

> This my first work that I’ve actually posted, so feel free to leave feedback on how I’m doing. I currently have the entire story outlined through 32 chapters, as well as bits and pieces of each chapter drafted. I’m not sure how often I’ll update but I have enough written already that they should be fairly often. I’ve made this my NaNoWriMo for 2020 so at the very least I will be writing consistently through November. However, with the way that this year has gone so far who knows. Anyway, Enjoy!

Anakin could see that he might have made a mistake in trusting the chancellor. The fact that he was now fleeing down the halls of the senate building while his own troops fired on him only solidified his new stance. However that didn’t mean he was looking forward to the lecture he was sure to receive when this was all over. Obi-wan seemed to have decided that the lecture couldn't wait until they had escaped the senate building. 

“For goodness sake Anakin, I am certain I had instructed you to stay at the temple!” Obi-wan sighed, pausing to deflect a stray blot that had gotten to close. Anakin glared back at him,

“Spare me the lecture Master, and focus on getting us out of here,” he barked, lifting the tables along the hallway with the force and flinging them at the advancing troopers. It slowed them down, but not for nearly long enough. “We definitely won’t make it to the usual exit.” Obi-wan paused for a moment and a blaster bolt seared the ends of his hair. The troops were advancing closer by the second, and shooting with intent to kill. Despite it all, Anakin couldn't bring himself to attack them.

“Blast it,” Obi-wan swore, ducking out-of-the-way of another shot. “Do you have another brilliant plan, Anakin, or is it necessary for me to pick up the slack once more?” Anakin bristled at the insult as he turned to run towards the tall doors that led to the observation deck.

“I wouldn’t call it brilliant but it’s the best you’re going to be getting at the moment.” He tore the doors from their hinges, and directed them towards the towering windows of the observation deck. The window shattered in front of them as the metal doors smashed through, sending bits of glass through the air. Sharp shards scattered across the floor, glinting in the light of the setting sun. Anakin leapt over the glass, using the force to extend his jump. Behind him, he felt Obi-wan do the same. He landed on the edge of the windowsill, balanced precariously, then retracted his saber and pulled Obi-wan down with him. Obi-wan yelped as they plummeted through traffic, as blaster bolts flew past them. They landed harshly on the roof of a club 20 miles below the senate building. Anakin groaned, pulling himself up. Obi-wan turned to him furiously, blue eyes glinting in the neon lights.

“What in the galaxy are you doing Anakin, we need-,”

“What I am trying to do is keep us alive you kriffing idiot!” Anakin exclaimed running a hand through his hair, “We need to get to Padmé, I told the chancellor she was pregnant with the baby.”

“Anakin the chancellor will be going after the Jedi, he can control the clones, and you heard him give the order to march on the temple. There are hardly any knights on planet who can defend the temple.”

“But the baby-”

“Will be fine. Padmé can take care of herself until we can get there.” Obi-wan jumped down from the roof, Anakin following behind. They continued to argue until the older Jedi stopped besides a red speeder. “Hot wire this one, we need to get to the temple quickly.”

“Fine.” Anakin conceded, reaching for the toolkit he kept stored in his robes.  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
Leaping down from the speeder Anakin rushed towards the burning temple. The line of clones guarding the entrance to the temple fell as he blasted a path through them with the force. The fires burning below them made his grip on his saber hilt slippery. He could sense Obi-wan beside him, as they worked their way through the temple. 

There was a pair of clones guarding ever corridor. If they had been droids it would be easy. Killing the clones was not. 

It was clear that the clones were as efficient at slaughtering the Jedi as they were at slaughtering droids. As they neared the training rooms where the force was crying in distress, the destruction became worse. The bodies of fallen Padawans and Knights littered the floor. 50 feet from the door to the training rooms, a youngling twi’lek lay dying on the floor, multiple blaster wounds through his stomach. Anakin could feel the nausea pooling in his stomach and he could feel Obi-wan’s despair as the twi’lek took his last breath. 

Anger clouded his mind as he watched Obi-wan take out the last clone guards. As they burst into the sparing rooms', chaos descended around them. There were only about 5 knights defending alongside about 10 padawans. The clones up ahead had their back to the two Jedi, and Anakin prepared to attack while the Jedi held the upper hand. The element of surprise was lost when a padawan defending against the clones cried out,

“Master Kenobi!” Blood was dripping from a wound on the boy’s forehead, falling into his eyes, “Help! The rest of the younglings-, they’re in the back room.” Obi-wan tore off from Anakin’s side and towards the instructional rooms tucked away at the other end of the sparing room. Anakin cut down 3 clones who were attempting to kill the padawan. The hum of sabers buzzed through his mind. Slipping into the rhythm of battle Anakin continued to defend the doorway to the younglings as the rest of the Jedi were pushed back. Pausing to check on the padawan behind him, his flesh arm was caught by a spare bolt. Seconds later the padawan collapsed, as a bolt tore through his leg, and Anakin was back fighting in a second. Herding the padawan and the remaining Jedi towards the exit.

“Karking hells, move it padawan, we need to get out of here now!” Anakin shouted, as he took another bolt, this time to his shoulder. The Jedi continued to fall. They were almost at the other end of the room when the only other Jedi knight left collapsed to the floor ahead of him. The padawan by his side froze as the knight collapsed, letting out a pained cry.

“Master!” The padawan dropped his saber in shock, the green blade rolling across marble floors slick with blood. Without a weapon to defend him the boy was hit with multiple blaster shots as he cried for his fallen master. Anakin could only continue to defend against the onslaught of blaster fire as he pushed the boy in front of him towards the door.

The force screamed in agony in his head as he felt the light of thousands of lives extinguish around him. The landing platform was littered with dead clones.  
The temple burned around him. The force wept. Anakin was hit again and again by the attacks of those who were once his friends. Anakin could barely make out Obi-wan’s face in front of him, lit up by the sickly glow of his blue saber. The world felt as though it was collapsing around him. There was a senator in a speeder in front of him, eyes wide in shock. Another Jedi youngling lay dead on the platform, a lightsaber clutched in his small hands. He met Obi-wan’s eyes and saw only horror reflected back at him. 

“Into the speeder” Obi-wan instructed the padawan. Anakin noted with relief that there were 4 younglings huddled inside, though all were injured. The padawan beside him was trembling as he climbed into the passenger seat, his skin pale from blood loss. Anakin took a few steps towards the speeder, world spinning around him. He should probably be helping the children right now but his limbs weren’t cooperating with him at the moment. He brushed his hair out of his eyes and noticed with amusement that his hair was streaked with red. Obi-wan glanced back at him, eyes wide. 

“Anakin” he heard him shout, before a blinding pain tore through his side and the world faded into darkness.


	2. The Chase

If Obi-wan was panicking then, it would be completely justified. Instead he could only feel numb. In order to release your emotions into the force you had to open your mind. Unfortunately, lowering his shields filled Obi-wan with pain so powerful it took his breath away. When he had run to defend the children he had expected there to be more of them. Instead there was a small cluster of younglings huddled on the cold granite floor of the temple. The oldest child, a girl with dark cropped hair gripped a purple lightsaber. When the door to the lecture rooms had opened she had attempted to rush Obi-wan before realizing the identity of the Jedi Master. She was the only child devoid of serious injuries, though her robes were torn and stained with blood. 

As she ran beside him now, short legs struggled to keep up with the fast pace. There were three children that Obi-wan was struggling to keep levitated with the force. Two of the children in the air were bleeding badly, but there was no time to find the source. The third child had only injured her ankle, and was unable to walk. The youngest, a human boy, lay in Obi-wan’s arms, white hair streaked with blood from a head wound. Head wounds look worse than they are, Obi-wan reminded himself, even as the force presence of the child flickered more with each passing minute. They were only minutes from the landing platform, where Obi-wan planned to pull a speeder to him with the force to escape in. 

The clones that the Jedi encountered on their way were only pairs of guards that normally would be easily taken down. This however, was not a normal situation. His left arm was supporting the child, and he was helping to move the other injured younglings with the force. So when Obi-wan encountered the third pair of clone troopers, it was all too easy for them to maneuver himself into a corner by targeting the children. Deflecting a blaster bolt back at troopers, it sailed about six feet above their heads. Wrong angle. This was right when three things happened at the same time. A young padawan with a blue saber in his hands bolted through the corridor. Pain rang through Obi-wan’s force bond with Anakin. The child in Obi-wan’s arms went limp. 

The padawan sliced through the torso of one of the clones, chopping off the arms of the other. The child could not possibly see the Jedi that had been backed into the dark hallway corridor. Instead he raced towards the landing platform where a battalion of clones was deployed. Obi-wan was a Jedi Master who had long mastered the form of Soresu. Obi-wan would be able to defend himself while protecting the children and still take down those clones. A young Jedi padawan, who by the looks of it had only just been taken on would never stand a chance. There was no choice to be made, only action to be taken. Obi-wan lowered the children with the force into the darkest section of the corridor, the maneuvered debris from the walls to conceal the hiding place. Locking eyes with the older youngling Obi-wan sternly instructed, 

“Stay here, do not ignite that lightsaber, it will only serve to expose you and the others.” The child nodded solemnly, eyes alert with adrenaline and fear. Obi-wan reached for Anakin in the force, and confirming his continued existence on this galaxy set off after the padawan. 

By the time Obi-wan reached the landing platform it was too late. Bail Organa stood frozen next to his speeder, watching as the padawan tried to fight his way through at least twenty clones. The boy fought bravely, and managed to take down three of the clones before meeting resistance. As the child deftly leapt over a group of clones to reach the speeder he exposed himself to the blaster shots of the clones behind him. A bolt clipped the child in the shoulder, and though Obi-wan could not see the child’s face he felt his panic. Once again, Obi-wan was too late. Another shot slammed through the padawan’s side, and then his head. Obi-wan heard the senator cry out, but had no time to spare as the rest of the clones turned on him. Obi-wan fought his way through the clones. 

Slicing through the clones was terrifyingly detached. If he could just forget that these clones were men it would be easy, but all he could think of was Cody’s stern smile and Waxer’s laughing face. The men had no choice. The Jedi had no choice. There were more clones. Obi-wan was simply more powerful. He’d sparred Cody hundreds of times, and this felt just like running through the movements. The men fell to his saber until Obi-wan had moved through every clone. There was no way to disable them, when Obi-wan took an arm the clone shot with the other. When Obi-wan took a leg the men crawled towards him without ceasing fire. He did not stop until every clone was dead. They were men made to die for the republic, yet they were working to burn it. The Jedi were made to defend the peace, yet now fought the war. It was wrong, it was evil, it was unjust. Blood fell on harsh cement. 

The clones fell, the Jedi in the temple were slaughtered and Obi-wan felt the light of the youngling who he had carried through the temple extinguish. The blazing orange sunset lit up the sky with the colors of raging fire. The heat of the inferno beneath him made his saber slippery in his tight grip. The pain overwhelmed him but he was a Jedi. He did not feel. He could not feel. He was numb to the world. His emotions surrounded the force but he could no longer feel the pain. The numbness spread through his limbs, penetrating his mind until his saber was extended to the throat of the last man on the platform.

“Obi-wan! Obi-wan!” The words cut through the fog penetrating his mind. Obi-wan blinked then realized that his saber was moving towards Bail’s neck, not a clone’s. The senator’s eyes were wide with panic, and Obi-wan stepped back deactivating his lightsaber. 

“Apologies Senator Organa, It appears I’ve become,” Obi-wan swallowed, “slightly upended by the current situation.” The children. 

“Obi-wan, what’s happened? The clones said that you’ve staged an uprising, but the Jedi would never-“ 

“The republic has been betrayed. The chancellor is a Sith. There’s no time to explain, I have five-,” no longer, “Four children that need transport out of here. Senator please, I beg of you to help us.” Confusion flashed across the senator’s face, then disbelief. 

“Obi-wan, of course I will help the children.” Relief. Shock. Pain. Panic. Obi-wan’s bond with his former padawan was a fluttering flurry of emotions, but the most prevalent was the penetrating anger. Anakin had always burned, but now the heat of his mind and emotions was too much for Obi-wan to handle. Closing the bond he turned from the Senator. 

“Thank you.” Obi-wan hurried down the platform. The padawan lay a few yards from the speeder, eyes wide in death. His hands clutched a lightsaber, the blade glowing with steady blue light. Obi-wan pushed his despair into the force hurrying past the child. He reached the huddled youngling where he had hidden them. The girl with the violet saber. Her eyes were wet with tears. 

“Master Kenobi, Drakoh isn’t breathing.” Her voice was thick with despair. Obi-wan was tempted to remind her that he had instructed her to keep the lightsaber off.

“We need to move, little one. Everything is going to be alright.” Even to his own ears the words sounded weak. The girl nodded anyways. He began to move them as he had before. The boy lay on the floor. He would never leave the temple. The child was so terribly small in death. Everyone was. 

Lifting the children with the Force was now nearly impossible. When they once more reached the landing platform he could not block the sight of the bodies from the children. The girl muttered the name of the fallen padawan as she passed him, her voice quiet but full of anguish no child should be able to feel. Bail’s speeder hovered a foot above the platform. Obi-wan lowered the children into the speeder. There was hardly any space. It was only meant to seat two adults. He could feel Anakin in the temple. He should leave with the children. He could not leave Anakin. Every minute lowered the chance that all of them would survive. Obi-wan couldn’t leave him. 

“Bail, take the children to Padmé Amidala’s home. She has top of the line medical care units there.” Bail did not move. “Senator?”

“What about you Kenobi?” The cut on Bail’s neck dripped with blood. His fault. One of the children whimpered. Bail’s eyes widened in fear. Obi-wan whirled around igniting his saber. Anakin ran down the platform towards him. Six clones pursued him. His black robes were damp with blood. A padawan was running beside him. Both were badly injured. The clones moved into sight. Bail landed the speeder back on the platform. The padawan’s blood mixed with the blood on the platform. The blood of clones and jedi. The blood of children and men. The force whipped around his head, powerful winds scattering his thoughts. He caught Anakin’s eyes. He wished he hadn’t. 

“Into the speeder.” There was not enough space. There was not enough time. The padawan squeezed in with the children. The force screamed a warning. Anakin stumbled towards him. His blue eyes were glossy and yellow creeping in around the edges. Swimming before his vision, Drakoh looked up at him with pleading eyes. Two clones fired. The children were behind him. Anakin was in front of him. Obi-wan dove foreword. Both blasts hit true. Obi-wan was still too late. Always too late. The blast punched through Anakin. Anakin fell. The youngling in the speeder collapsed. Obi-wan felt anger tear through him. He leaped onto the back of the speeder. Anakin was limp in his arms. He will not leave Anakin. The platform groaned beneath the clones. The speeder lifted ten feet above the platform. Obi-wan could stop this. He did not want to. The platform cracked. The clones fell. The fire raged. The world burned. The speeder stuttered under the excess weight. Bail piloted them towards Padmé’s apartment. 

They landed on the platform. Padmé greeted them, eyes wide in relief when she caught sight of Obi-wan, then horror when she saw Anakin in his arms. Blood dripped from Anakin’s back onto the landing. 

“We need your medical equipment. Anakin’s unconscious, the children have been shot, and I don’t have-.” The speeder crashed onto the platform. Anakin still did not move. Obi-wan climbed off the back of the speeder into the safety of Padmé’s house. Moving past familiar furniture and towards the hidden safety room hidden behind the wine cabinet. Blood dripped onto the cream carpet beneath his feet. There was no bacta tank in the safe room. Obi-wan’s heart sank. The blaster wound in Anakin’s back never would have gotten past his battle armor. There was never supposed to be a battle today. This was Palpatine. The anger dissolved into the force. His mind went silent. Laying Anakin down on the table he realized just how much blood his padawan had lost. The med-bot began to work on Anakin. The children filed into the room. There were only three left. He had started with five. How did he fail three children so quickly? 

The padawan that had run beside Anakin was staring blankly while the other med-bot applied bacta to the wound in his leg. The uninjured youngling hovered beside him. Padmé grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room, leaving Bail with the children

“Obi-wan, please explain to me what is going on, now.” Her face was stern but the force around her echoed with fear and pain. The blaster cut on the side of Obi-wan’s face throbbed.

“The chancellor,” the words tasted like ash in his mouth, “is a Sith Lord.” Unlike Bail, Padmé knew exactly what the Sith were. 

“That’s impossible. The chancellor would never.” She shook her head in disbelief. Obi-wan bowed his head. The memory of the Sith’s smirk when Anakin entered the room flashed before his eyes. 

“He wanted Anakin as an apprentice. He’ll come here soon enough. There may be clones on their way here right now. I never should have told Bail to come here, but the children and Anakin were so injured. I just, I can’t-.” The hopelessness of the situation settled around both of them. Padmé’s hands rested on her swollen belly.

“It’s alright Obi-wan, there was no other place to go. Who injured you, what in the galaxy happened to Anakin and those children.” Obi-wan began to recall the flight from the senate building to the landing deck of the Jedi temple, the icy cold chill of the force outside his head deadening his senses. He told of the younglings that had been killed, the padawan’s cut down, and the sacrifice of the Jedi Knights. He told of the clones who were forced to fight, and the lightning that had danced across his skin on the floor of the Sith’s office. When he was finished she was crying. It took him a moment to realize that he was as well.


End file.
